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Thanks to a bench-style seat and both front and rear suspension, this will give riders a smooth ride even on rough roads. We will explain why in our Himiway C5 review.
Providing the muscle for the Himiway C5 is a 750W brushless, geared hub motor, which is powered by a whopping 960Wh battery. Considering most riders are likely to spend their time using the throttle instead of the pedals, that was a terrific choice.
Let’s have a look at the Himiway C5’s other details.
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E-mopeds are designed to give the look and feel of a moped/motorcycle without forcing riders to register their purchase and get a driver’s license. And they are comfortable, thanks to the big, bench-style seat.
The bench seat has some girth to it and it’s fixed in place, so it can’t be raised or lowered, which can make finding the right position for pedaling a challenge, but e-mopeds aren’t designed for people who want to get lots of exercise. And, at 88 lbs., riders will want to defer to the motor for acceleration.
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Himiway C5 Review: Specs & Features
Frame and fork
Himiway built the C5 on a heat-treated 6061 aluminum frame. It features an air-spring shock, though there’s no word on the amount of suspension travel the rider will enjoy.
The frame is built with a bench-style seat as you’d have with a motorcycle. It offers great comfort, but doesn’t make for easy pedaling.
The suspension fork offers 140mm of travel, which is enough to make riding on dirt roads pleasant. It could make a cobblestone road feel like new pavement.
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Motor and battery
The Himiway C5 is built with a 750W brushless, geared hub motor that produces 86Nm of torque. It’s one of the more potent hub motors we’ve tested. Riders looking for snappy acceleration will be able to throttle their way to top speed with ease.
Considering this e-moped or e-motorcycle is unlikely to be pedaled much, the C5 needs a sizable battery if it is to enjoy a reasonable amount of range, and Himiway came through with a 960Wh battery, which is almost a third greater capacity than necessary to meet our 1:1 motor power to battery capacity rule of thumb.
Himiway suggests that riders can hope to see as much as 80 mi. per charge. It’s important to keep in mind that such a figure is a best-case scenario and for riders to see that, they’d need to be pedaling in PAS 1 any time this e-moped is moving. For a rider using the throttle exclusively, we would expect the range to be closer to half that. That shouldn’t sound like a knock, though. If the Himiway C5 can cover 40 mi. on throttle, that makes it a long-range champ among e-mopeds.
The rider who does wish to pedal, though, will be rewarded with immediate and proportional acceleration, thanks to the addition of a torque sensor. It makes for a more seamless riding experience.
Drivetrain, brakes and wheels
Himiway equipped the C5 with a 7-speed Shimano drivetrain with a 14-28t freewheel. This will be handy for anyone when they are pedaling, but for the user who favors the throttle, it won’t add much.
Tektro hydraulic disc brakes are paired with 180mm rotors to provide solid stopping power and control in turns. Though the tires on the Himiway C5 are big, it still rolls on 20-in. wheels, which makes this a very powerful combination, moreso than it would be with 26-in. wheels.
The 20 x 4-in. Kenda K-Shield tires come with a medium-profile tread that will roll well on asphalt, but still give riders a reasonable amount of traction when off-road.
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EBR’s Himiway C5 First Look Review:
Most of the e-moped designs we see feature rigid frames and a suspension fork with 80-100mm of travel. The Himiway C5 increases that travel to 140mm and adds rear suspension, making this a notably more comfortable design, and more able when riding on unpaved roads.
Despite its 88-lb. weight, we believe riders will see good range with the Himiway C5 due to the 960Wh battery. That’s a big battery; we’re not convinced that riders will see 80 mi. in range, and even 60 mi. might be a challenge, this e-moped will offer any rider plenty of range if they recharge after each ride.
We would like to have seen full fenders front and rear, but the C5 does come with bright front and rear lights, and the rear light also serves as a brake light.
One notable feature of the Himiway C5 is that this is a Class 2 e-moped and Himiway makes no mention of being able to unlock the C5 for Class 3 or unlimited operation. What that means is that parents looking for an e-moped that will keep their kid to e-bike speeds and not traffic speeds will be able to have confidence that their rider is going a manageable speed—20 mph.
This is a terrific design that will offer a notably more comfortable ride than most of its competitors.
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